

S#s 




■saw SERMON 

.M7 

Copy 1 



PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL AT ROME, 



DELIVERED AT THE 



F Street Church, Washington City, 



SABBATH MORNING, FEBRUARY 19, 1837, 



BY 



JOSHUA MOORE, 



MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL, 



WASHINGTON : 

JACOB GIDEON, JR. PRINTER, 
1838. 



The following discourse is affectionately inscribed to his relatives 
and to the acquaintances, and friends, of his early youth, at the request 
of some of whom, it has been prepared for the press by the author. 

It is felt by him to be a mark of their long cherished friendship, 
which he highly appreciates. 

It is due to truth, to say, that in his judgment, never was man 
much more blessed than he has felt himself to be in the continuance of 
their regard, from childhood, to manhood, and to the present hour una- 
bated • 

How dearly he prizes their best interests, he cannot well express — 
and he can but pray that grace, mercy and peace, from the Father, Son 
and Holy Ghost, may be multiplied to them all. 

Most affectionately, he remains their brother in the Lord, 

JOSHUA MOORE. 



^ V * D * SERMON. 
^^\<\ 

*« So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at 
Rome also." — Romans, i, 15. 

Already had the inspired, the holy Apostle, Paul, taken the tour of 
almost the whole known world, when he turned his compassionate eye 
towards the grand metropolis, which remained yet to be evangelized. 

Full of the spirit of his high and heavenly commission, he was bent 
on the errand of preaching the gospel to all sorts and conditions of men, 
reckless of all the personal inconveniences and risks which he must 
expect to encounter, in the fulfilment of the ministry of reconciliation. 

Bonds and afflictions every where betided, but none of these things 
moved him, neither did he count his life dear to him, so that he might 
finish his course with joy, and the ministry which he had received of 
the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.* Little, pro- 
bably, did he anticipate the circumstances which finally opened his way 
to the Imperial city, and furnished the occasion of his visit to the court 
of Nero. He was ready to go, nevertheless, and even there to proclaim, 
to the best of his ability, the glad tidings of great joy. 

Wonderful man ! Regardless of the frowns of the great, the noble, 
and the rich, he dared to set foot upon the very sites where Cicero and 
Hortensius had exhausted their eloquence on themes of justice, and 
their country's weal or woe, and he shrank not from the delicate and 
responsible task of addressing the very ear of royalty itself, in vin- 
dication of the injured and neglected Messiah, « the Prince of the kings 
of the earth." 

It could not be concealed that it required more than ordinary ability 
to preach at Rome, and that talents well fitted for less public and pol- 
ished regions would appear to small advantage when arrayed beside the 
learning and taste and the cultivated gifts of the ruling city of the uni- 
versal world. But what then? Though he vaunted not himself nor 
was puffed uptf nor behaved himself unseemly towards the powers that 
wielded the authority of the nation, he was not ashamed of the gospel of 
Christ.% He knew it to be the wisdom of God in a mystery, and the 
* Cor. xiii, 4. f Acts, xx, 23, 24. * Rom. i. 16. 



power oj God unto salvation. He felt assured that the gospel, by its 
intrinsic excellence, when accompanied by the Divine Spirit, would 
prostrate all opposition, and he was willing to be its herald even at 
Rome. Less esteemed there than elsewhere, he was prepared to ex- 
pect shame and contempt for Jesus' sake, but he, like his Divine Master, 
could despise the shame, when enduring the cross. Here was hero- 
ism — here were piety and ministerial devotedness. How it casts into 
the shade the cowardice, the temporizing spirit, the lethargy of the age 
in which we live. It is not now as it was of old. Then it was thought 
that a tour of preparatory service in the ministry of the gospel must be 
undergone before the metropolis should be visited — that the outposts of 
the enemy must first be encountered before the attempt were made to 
storm his very castle — that it was best first to measure the length of 
their weapons with some of the advanced guards of the hosts of darkness 
before the ministers of the gospel should hazard the scaling of the bat- 
tlements, and entering the very heart of the camp. But now the first resort 
is to the most conspicuous and important posts, at once, and the newly 
equipt stripling of the cross encounters, at fearful odds, the veteran 
legions of the land, to the total defeat, or at least manifest disadvantage 
of the cause he attempts to vindicate. How do the modesty and self- 
diffidence of Paul rebuke the forward and self- confident importance of 
modern times, and how few take pains, as he did, to prepare themselves, 
by an initiatory ordeal of experience in the ministry, for holding forth 
the word of life in the chief and choicest situations of the land ! Paul 
had begun to preach at Damascus. He afterwards preached in Arabia, 
and at Jerusalem. In Asia, the less, he had made known the riches of 
God's grace, and in some of the islands of the Levant. He visited Co- 
rinth, Phillippi and Athens, renowned for arts and arms, for science and 
for idolatry. Pursuing his westward course towards Spain, he intended 
to pay Rome a visit also, to gather laurels of victory there, as he had 
gathered them elsewhere, by the spiritual weapons of his holy warfare. 
In the farther prosecution of our subject, we design, by Divine as- 
sistance, in the first place, to describe the people of Rome and of other 
countries, to whom the Apostle preached. In the next place, briefly 
to consider the preaching of the Apostle there — with the subject and im- 
portance of it — and then dwell on his readiness so to do, with his motive, 
object, and success. After which, some remarks ma\ be made, in ap- 
plication to the metropolis of our own country, as a field of ministerial 
labor. 



1 st. We are to describe the people who were at Rome, and else- 
where, to whom the Apostle preached. 

The metropolis was characterized by the qualities that pervaded the 
nation at large, and these were a motley mixture of superstition, idol- 
atry, and vice — of Judaism and Paganism. 

There were some Saints there, as well as some Jews, and many 
Heathen, and the city tolerated every faith but the true one, and every 
fancy that ingenuity could devise. 

It was a place of great cultivation and extensive literature, and the 
fine arts were there carried to the highest point of refinement. Sculp- 
ture had there reared her lasting monuments of every order of architec- 
ture, and science there had her lights of every school. Every species 
of idolatry there had its devotees, and every false god had his worship- 
pers. Custom there reigned in her most absolute sway, and compelled 
ten thousand times ten thousand to do her homage. Darkness brooded 
over the land, and thick darkness covered the people, when, at last, 
the day spring from on high burst upon them. Their situation was me- 
lancholy in the extreme, and no hope of amendment appeared, from the 
efforts of lawgivers, of moralists, and of poets. In vain might the lat- 
ter satirize vice ; its allurements were too powerful to be abandoned for 
a sneer. In vain might moralists descant upon the beauties of virtue; 
Their eyes were too dim to discern her charms. In vain, too, did legis- 
lators enact statutes to enforce duty, and penalties to coerce obedience. 
The force of human depravity was too great, its resistance too potent for 
such feeble restraints. Man was match for his fellow man, encountered 
in any of these ways. O tempora ! O mores ! exclaimed the orator of the 
day,* despairing propably of the success of his own treatise on man's du- 
ties in working any reform. And all sank down supinely beneath the 
Herculean task of purifying the debauched morals and Heaven-daring 
wickedness of the mighty city. 

The condition of mankind, in general, was but more deeply marked 
and exemplified at Rome. " All had gone out of the way, and had to- 
gether become unprofitable. None did good ; no, not one. Their throat 
was an open sepulchre, and with their tongues they used deceit ; the 
poison of asps was under their lips. Their mouth was full of cursing 
and bitterness ; their feet were swift to shed blood; destruction and 
misery were in their ways ; and the way of peace they had not known. 
There was no fear of God before their eyes." Romans, iii, 12, 18. 

* Cicero de officiis. 



6 

All this was true of the Jews at Rome, as well as elsewhere. 

Of the Heathen at Rome, as elsewhere, the language contained in 
the first chapter of the epistle to the Romans was descriptive. " When 
they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, 
but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was dark- 
ened. Professing themselves to be wise they became fools, and changed 
the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible 
man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts and creeping things." 

"Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, through the lusts 
of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves ; 
who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the 
creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen." 

"For this cause, God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their 
women did change the natural use into that which is against nature ; 
and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burn- 
ed in their lust one towards another ; men with men working that which 
is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error 
which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their 
knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things 
that arc not convenient ; being filled with all unrighteousness, fornica- 
tion, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, 
debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, de- 
spiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 
without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, im- 
placable, unmerciful : who knowing the judgment of God, that they 
who commit such things. are worthy of death, not only do the same, but 
have pleasure in them that do them!"* At such a picture, the heart sickens, 
and turns away in disgust, struck with horror at the melancholy state 
of man, thus faithfully described by the inspired penman. 

And was this, in very deed, the character — this the spiritual state of 
man, at the zenith of his power— -and his pride, his wisdom and his vir- 
tue, at Rome ? It was. Much need was there, loud was the call to 
preach the gospel at Rome, also. If others needed it, Rome much more 
— if others received it, much more should she. Scythia might be more un- 
couth and unpolished, but more depraved it could not be. Asia might 
be more effeminate, but more dissolute she could not be. Africa might 
be politically more degraded, but not more so morally than Italy. Ma- 
cedonia and all Greece ought not to have given a more importunate invi- 

* Rom. 1. 21—32. 



tation to the Apostle, to come over and help them, than the city of Rome 
should have given. 

To Rome then, the Apostle was ready to bend his anxious steps. Not 
attracted by the glare of her glory, to see the monuments of her valor, 
or her libraries of science, or her trophies of war, or the tombs of her 
genius ; he turned his eyes towards Rome, as the Saviour of mankind 
surveyed the city of Jerusalem from the heights of Mount Olivet,* weep- 
ing for her miseries and her guilt. 

It was not to indulge in classic recollections, and to gratify the taste 
with the productions of the chisel and the pencil, but to take the guagef 
of human misery and assail the gigantic powers of sin, which there had 
established their desolating empire, and embodied themselves in a thou- 
sand destructive forms. It was to propel the triumphal car of the Gos- 
pel over the ruins of diabolical wickedness, and to achieve the conquest 
of the empire for Immanuel. With these views, Paul visited the fa- 
mous, the infamous city, Rome. The pleasure of Christian intercourse 
with the saints who were there, and the hospitalities which they might 
shew him on his purposed journey to Spain, were not slighted and for- 
gotten,;}; but his zeal to proclaim the Gospel rendered every other con- 
sideration secondary, and he was determined in every event to hazard 
the enterprise which was so fraught with the happiness of his fellow 
creatures, and the glory of God. 

2. We briefly consider the preaching of the Apostle there — the sub- 
ject and importance of it. 

Paul in the pulpit must have been a grand spectacle for the church 
to behold. It was one of the three things which the famous Augustine 
wished he had lived to see, together with Rome in her glory. It is not 
extravagant to say, that Borne might now have been seen in her glory, 
when this holy man of God held forth in her the word of life. The eyes 
that saw — the ears that heard him, were blessed. 

What the Apostle was ready to preach at Rome was the Gospely " the 
glorious Gospel of the ever-blessed God."|| 

News had often been announced there, from her distant provinces and 
renowned generals, and ruling consuls, and kings — but, never as yet, 
such news as the Gospel. Tidings of victory, of spreading conquests, 
and growing grandeur, had often rung in the ears of imperial Rome ; but 
the good news of salvation from the powers of hell, of deliverance 

* Luke, xix. 29—41. f Burke's Eulogy of Howard. $ Rom. 1. 12—15—24. 
] Timothy, 1. 2, 



8 

from the curse of the law of God — of victory over death and the grave, 
had never been proclaimed upon the tops of her splendid hills, and in the 
halls of her luxurious palaces. This honor was reserved for the Apostle 
Paul. Ps. 149 :9. tn this Christian land, we are generally so accus- 
tomed from our earliest infancy to hear the Gospel preached, that its 
amazing truths strike us with little of that admiration which we may na- 
turally suppose filled the minds of those who heard it for the first time. 
Glorious Gospel! How charming is the sound! It is a revelation of 
the mercy of God, through the righteousness of Christ, to man. It in- 
cludes in its gracious annunciations the sublime fact of the incarnation 
of the Son of God, of his sufferings, death and resurrection, for our re- 
demption. It displays the overwhelming love of God to man, in first 
devising in the counsels of eternity, and then, in executing in the ful- 
ness of time,* a scheme whereby mercy and truth could meet together — 
righteousness and peace kiss each other.i In it is contained also a gra- 
cious provision for the entire renewal of man after the image of God, by 
the efficacious and almighty agency of the Holy Spirit, promised by the 
Father and sent by the Son. Through the operation of this Spirit the 
work of the Lord Jesus is applied to those for whom he died, and sinful 
men are enabled to repent and believe unto salvation. Finally, the Gos- 
pel includes the continuance of all such in the ivays of life,$ and their en- 
tire and everlasting glorification, in soul and body, as the grand result 
of Divine love and faithfulness, sealed by the blood of Jesus, and rati- 
fied by the promise and the oath of God, " who cannot lie."|| 

The proclamation of these glad tidings was Paul's errand at Rome. 
He gloried in the cross — and sought to plant it upon the conspicuous 
heights of the empress of the world. He stood forth as the public champi- 
on of his heavenly Master, and hailed persecution and reproach as the 
expected attendants of his career there. Much was the need that the 
proclamation should be there made. A wide field opened there before 
the ambassador of Christ, and it invited to the most untiring efforts for 
the good of immortal souls. Indeed, who that felt for the miseries of 
guilty man, could forbear to stretch out a helping hand in aid of the glo- 
rious cause of Immanuel there just beginning to advance. The impossi- 
bility of accomplishing any thing by ordinary means created the impe- 
rious necessity of trying what the everlasting Gospel could effect. Hu- 
manity there reduced to the most deplorable state, demanded peculiarly 
the sympathy and services of the great apostle — and what could he do less 

* Galatians, iv. 4. f Ps. lxxxv. 10. $ Isaiah 64. 5. || Hebrews, yi. 10, 



than make the attempt to meliorate the same, by calling them to (i repen- 
tance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus." Yet, vast difficulties 
lay in his way. The city of Rome resembled the great beast seen in 
the visions of the Apocalypse with seven heads and ten horns, which 
"had great iron teeth," and "his nails of brass, which devoured, brake 
in pieces and stamped" every nation that resisted it. A mighty adversa- 
ry this ! difficult to be subdued and tamed by the potentates of the earth, 
and yielding only to the mighty weapons of the Gospel. The intrepid 
Paul resolved to attempt the task of subduing it, and he soon found there 
too, that the Gospel was " the power of God to salvation." Rom. 1 : 16. 
3. Let us dwell briefly upon his readiness to preach the Gospel there, 
with his motive, object and success. No motives but those of the pur- 
est and most exalted kind actuated him. Love to God, and love to man, 
were the master passions of his holy bosom, and led on by these, he 
grew valiant in the discharge of his Apostolic duties, not caring for his 
life, but hazarding it when necessary, and holding it in readiness to be 
sacrificed on the altar of human happiness and Christ's glory. It was 
not the ambition of preaching in the Capital, nor thirst for fame and 
earthly distinction, that created his ardent desire to visit Rome. He 
wanted to have some fruit to his ministry'* in the great metropolis, as 
well as in other places, and there to win souls to Christ. He had often 
before intended to visit Rome, that he might enjoy some success there, 
such as he had enjoyed in other conspicuous and commanding places, in 
the Empire, but the Providence of God had interposed unexpected dif- 
ficulties to prevent him. Deprived of this opportunity, his gifts had 
been most laboriously and happily employed in spreading the triumphs 
of the Cross of Christ, over distant and almost unfrequented parts of 
the world, which but for him would perhaps never have heard of the 
Lord Jesus. It was his sanctified ambition to cultivate new fields, to 
build on his own, not on other mens foundation, and to name the name 
of Christ, where no other tongue had ever before uttered it$ and did this 
spirit but prevail among the most talented and influential of the ambas- 
sadors of the Saviour now, with the increase of their numbers, and of 
the facilities of access to the different nations of the earth, we should 
not have occasion at present to deplore the extensive desolations of the 
globe, which Superstition, Idolatry, Mahomedan and Papal imposture 
have caused. 0,that the Pauls and Apolloses of the age would but consent 

* Romans, r, 13. f Romans, xt. 19 21. 

2 



10 

to try the hardships of the frontier — the privations of the wilderness, 
and the frosty or the scorching climates of the pole and the equator, to 
search out the hapless wanderers that "shiver amid eternal snow^," or 
swelter beneath a vertical sun, and preach among them the " unsearchable 
riches of Christ."* " Go ye swift messengers, to the nations that are scat- 
tered and peeled,"! that are bleeding and dying, and let them know the 
year of Jubilee is come. It is a task well worthy of the choicest gifts 
of the ministry, and blessed are they who perform it with the spirit of 
an Apostle. His missionary labors were truly vast and so successful, 
that stars in his "crown of rejoicing,"! when the Lord cometh to make 
up his jewels,\\ will glitter in both hemispheres, and form a splendid con- 
stellation for him at his coronation day. Thus successful in his labors 
where no herald of the Cross had preceded him, it would give the Empire 
of darkness a signal downfall, could he but succeed in the conversion 
of Pagan Rome to Christianity — and cripple dagon,§ at a blow, if he 
carried the ark of God into his temple, which was seated in that far- 
famed city. It was a noble design truly — but for its execution, it de- 
manded an Apostle's gifts, an Apostle's preaching, and the effectual and 
Almighty energy of the Spirit of all grace. 

The faith of the converts at the city of Rome was already spoken of 
throughout the whole world,** and this must exert a most powerful influ- 
ence in favor of Christianity throughout the earth. Whatever was said, 
or taught, or done at Home, was equivalent to law, to the rest of the 
Nations* An immense injury would be done to the cause of Christianity 
at large, therefore, if in the Central City, the cause of Paganism or Po- 
pery, of vain philosophy, or of infidelity or vice bore sway, And if, on 
the contrary, the Cross of Immanuel triumphed there, persecution would 
not dare to light her fires, nor the officers of the realm venture to lift a 
sword, to destroy the disciples of Christ. Prostrate the legions of dark- 
ness, at Rome, and the fiends of darkness would soon stretch their 
wings, and fly down to the bottomless pit whence they came. Demolish 
the citadel and the garrison will be at your mercy. Take the General 
and the armv surrenders. On this principle, in part the Apostle acted, 
when he thought of going to Rome. Not that he expected less opposi- 
tion, but the more — not that he anticipated a relaxation from his severer 
toils, but their ten-fold increase. And being thoroughly prepared and 
furnished^ by long experience and much study, and above all, by Di- 

* Ephes. nj> 8. -J- Isaiah, xrnr, 2. % Thessalonians, n, 19. || Malachi, in, 17* 
* 1 Samuel, r. ** Romans, r, 8, ff 2 Tim. in, 17. 



11 

vine inspiration, he would now challenge the most valiant and the best 
equipt of the enemy to meet him, if they dare. To Rome he went. — 
He went a prisoner in a ship.* He proved a saviour to the crew that 
attended him. And on his arrival at the city, after he had provided 
himself with a hired housed he commenced his ministerial labors, for the 
salvation of his fellow-citizens. There he toiled in private, till on two 
occasions,^ he pronounced in the hearing of the King and nobility, a 
public apology for the faith. He then sealed his testimony with his blood, 
glorying that it was shed in the best of all causes in the universe. It 
was not in the cause of men's merely civil rights — nor the cause of po- 
litical liberty, but of the rights of God, his Redeemer 5 and of 

« k A liberty, 
"Which, though yet unsung by poets, 
7" And by orators unpraised," 
is the only liberty worthy of that blessed name, 

" 'Tis liberty of soul — 
" Bought with his blood, who gave it to mankind, 
«• And sealed with the same token : — a liberty 
" Which whosoever tastes 
" Can be enslaved no more." [Cowper. 

But though the holy and devoted Paul lost his life at Rome, he lived to 
see some fruits of his ministry there, as he had desired. They were not 
a few. In the imperial residence there were many, and others we may 
suppose, in proportion elsewhere in the city. ** 311 the Saints," said he, 
"salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar's household."^ Paul had 
what he desired. He lived to glorify Christ, he died to reap immortal 
gain.§ 

From all that has been said on the subject before us, it must appear 
to be evidently the duty of ministers, "as much as in them is"**— that is, 
to the extent of their ability and opportunities, to preach the Gospel to 
the inhabitants of the metropolis. It is also evident, that there are 
great and formidable difficulties in the way of preaching the Gospel to 
the inhabitants of the metropolis, fearlessly, without shame, and with- 
out concealing those features of it, that are repulsive to the fashionable 
taste, and to the prevailing indifference to the cross, which generally, is 
found there. The same Gospel, Dear Brethren, must be preached to 
the polished denizen of the metropolis, as to the yeomen of the country. 

* Acts xxvir. f Acts xxvni, 30. 4 2 Timothy iv, 16 17. 1 Philipp. iv, 22. 
$ Philipp. 1. 21. •• Romans, 1, 15. 



12 

In many places it is hailed with every demonstration of the most thril- 
ling and cordial delight — but alas I in others, it receives a very cold 
and ungracious welcome. So accustomed are we, in this land, to hear 
from Sabbath to Sabbath, the proclamation of Divine mercy, through a 
blessed Redeemer, that it seems to be regarded as nothing remarkable 
or very interesting. Ungrateful man ! the more highly favored, the 
more insensible to his mercies. Yet, the more neglected the Gospel 
may be, the more necessary is it, that it should be preached, and espe- 
cially in the chief cities, and the Capital of the Nation. There may 
come a time, indeed, when for the neglect of the Gospel, the " Lord may 
utterly remove the candlestick,"* and either remove the stars that shone 
upon the churches to their native Heavens, or let them fall to the earth, 
for their having lost their lustre — and then what would be the conse- 
quence ? Let us look at the seven churches of Asia, now generally 
trodden to the dust by the foot of the Moslem, and to the once flourish- 
ing church of Rome, built by the Apostle Paul, for an answer. 

The Capital of a country, we conceive, ought to be a fair specimen 
of the intelligence, the power, the literature, and the commerce of the 
land generally. 

There, enterprise, liberty, order, and public and private virtue, and 
above these, sound faith and religious practice should prevail and pros- 
per. Mind, body, and means, should there be brought into the most 
constant and vigorous exercise, to improve the general character of the 
country. Such ought to have been the case at Rome, but instead of 
this, she became the common sewerf of impiety, and contained within 
her splendid courts, and her elegant seats of literature and taste, the 
most revolting exhibitions of all the crimes of the age. 

Much need was there, then, to preach the Gospel at Rome, and very 
needful, brethren and friends, is the preaching of the Gospel in our 
young and growing metropolis. Like Rome, it is the Capital of an em- 
pire, or of a republic of vast extent, and under Providence, of vast 
resources, and like Rome, it is a city where much may be found to de- 
mand the burning zeal and the most pungent regrets, of the ministers of 
the Gospel, and of the friends of religion and virtue, at large. 

Owing to the disadvantages of its location, like Rome, it is not the 
mart of commerce for the nation at large. It is not like that mistress of 
genius and art and science, in being so much distinguished for talent 

* Revelations, i, 20. f Cicero. 



13 

and literary labors, although the latter, comparatively few in number 
as they are, we judge, are not inferior ; nor is it like that city, thronged 
with the insignia of conquered provinces, which fell beneath her colossal 
weight ; though it contains within its official halls and in its cabinet of 
curiosities the trophies of land and naval achievments, little less heroic 
than the victories of a Julius Csesar or a Vespasian. And what is a more 
striking and happy difference between our beloved metropolis, and that 
ancient city, it is not defiled with idolatry and polluted with such shame- 
less indulgences growing out of it, as made her the model of irreligion 
for the whole world beside. She cannot institute any comparison, either 
with the populous city, which, like a hive, darkened the air with her 
numbers, when she tythed her sons for the field of battle, and led them 
forth to render nations tributary, since, in point of numbers, she ranks 
among the least of the cities in our land. But in this one thing, at least, 
they resemble. The Senate chamber and the imperial residence were 
at Rome, as here. The civil power of the empire concentrated itself 
there, and thence radiated an influence co-extensive with the boundaries 
of the land. There lived the consuls of state, and there were assembled 
the heads of the people. To this city it pleased God to send the ever- 
lasting Gospel, as it has pleased him, of his infinite mercy, to send it to 
our metropolis. When scarcely rescued from the wildness of nature, 
while yet interspersed with the shrubbery of the forest, which has now 
disappeared before the march of time and the face of improvement, the 
sacred sound of the Gospel issued from the walls of some of the oldest 
of our churches, and some of the ears that then heard it knew it to be a 
joyful sound.* 

Thirty years ago, this city contained as much open Infidelity, pro- 
portioned to the number of its inhabitants, we believe, as it now contains 
of open and triumphant Christianity. 

For many years, men and brethren, have pastors and evangelists 
preached to you the kingdom of God, and they have never been, and so 
long as free rights are maintained, they never can be hindered, by any 
earthly authority, in the exercise of their blessed function. It is their 
duty and their privilege to exercise it. But there are, rely upon it, 
serious and important hindrances in their way, some of which are com- 
mon to all places, and some peculiar to the metropolis, above others. 

True, the reign of imported, speculative, cruel, Infidelity, is, we hope* 

* Esalm ixxxix, 15. 



14 

over in our beloved metropolis, so that this vast difficulty may be consi- 
dered as surmounted — yet practical Infidelity is too manifest and gene- 
ral. May it soon share the lot of speculative Infidelity. There are, 
however, other difficulties existing in the metropolis, in the way of the 
successful exercise of the ministry of reconciliation. The best gifts of 
the nation are here assembled, once in a year, accustomed to the varie- 
ties of religious opinions which prevail elsewhere, and they sit in judg- 
ment on exhibitions of Divine truth here made, while with more or less 
bias, perhaps, they are inclined, too easily, to censure the sacred herald, 
as the subject of his discourse may be but little familiar to their ear, and 
unpalatable to their taste. But, the difficulty in a city, where there is 
so much to divert the attention, is, that no impression of a religious na- 
ture will remain long, owing to the habitual thirst for novelty, or else to 
the calls and intrusion of worldly business or of worldly pleasure. The 
morning cloud and early dew are not more evanescent than many of the 
devotional feelings that are indulged under the preaching of the Word. 
The dissipations of a city are dreadful hindrances, that stand in the 
way of men's profiting by the preaching of the Gospel, and stand in the 
way of the preaching of it, too, when they prevail, and in just that pro- 
portion in which they prevail, the house of God and the ministry of re- 
conciliation will be disliked and deserted. It would be a tedious and 
most disgusting task, to recount the vices which have prevailed in this 
or in any other city : yet, we may be allowed to remark, that in this city, 
it is but too notorious, that violations of the third, fourth, seventh and 
ninth commandments have been scandalously common. Gambling, pro- 
fane swearing, uncleanness, Sabbath breaking, and bearing false witness 
against a neighbor are prohibited by those commandments. Thus they 
read, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the 
Lord will not hold him guiltless, that taketh His name in vain." This 
prohibits any unjustifiable appeal to the Most High, either by words or 
other signs; as, for example, an appeal to the casting of a die.-— The fourth 
commandment, is, * 'Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six 
days shalt thou labor, and in them do all thy work: but the seventh day 
is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt do no work — thou, 
nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man servant, northv maid servant, 
nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days 
the Lord made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and 
rested on the seventh day. Wherefore the Lord blessed the seventh 
day, and hallowed it. } ' This commandment is violated by the gross and 



15 

not uncommon desecration of holy time, by attending to business, or pur- 
suing pleasure on the Sabbath, and by neglecting the duties of the pub- 
lic and private worship of Almighty God. The seventh commandment, 
says, "Thou shalt not commit adultery," The preservation of our own 
and our neighbor's chastity, in thought, word, deed, here enjoined, is at 
mournful variance with the prevalence of somethings here "of which it 
is a shame even to speak.' 5 O shame! where is thy blush? O guilt! 
where thy remorse, for the violations of these commandments? Language 
can but imperfectly describe, and imagination but faintly conceive, the 
wretchedness, which secret vices inflict upon the souls and bodies of their 
perpetrators. The ninth commandment, is, "Thou shalt not bear false 
witness against thy neighbor." But how is it kept? Not by slander, 
newspaper defamation, tale bearing, and other methods resorted to, of in- 
juring the fair fame of a neighbor. Yet, are not these things shamefully 
common here ? Is it not difficult, my brethren, to stand and face any au- 
dience, when such or other vices are common, and to preach of '♦right- 
eousness, temperance and a judgement to come?" yes! it is difficult 
so to preach, as to prevail on men to break off their transgressions, by re- 
pentance, and their iniquities, by turning to God. It is not so difficult 
to declaim against vice. Every voice, almost, will condemn this, at 
times, and every man's conscience, unless seared, must at all times. 
But, to carry home conviction of the vileness of sin, and this, when it is 
pretended that it injures the perpetrator alone, and that only for the life 
that now is; this, my friends is not easy* 

One of the most appaling difficulties, after all, in preaching the Gos- 
pel in a city, where there are great wealth, great splendor, great pomp 
and power, is a timidity, lest a full and faithful disclosure of the whole 
truth snould alienate the people from the preacher. The blessed Saviour 
found the fickle multitude, now applauding, and then execrating him. 

When he proclaimed the tender mercies of Jehovah, they were all af- 
fection, and ready to hear; but when, changing his subject, he dwelt on 
the sovereignty with which Jehovah dispensed his love, the hue and cry 
were soon raised against him, and a total alienation from him ensued, 
and men forsook him.* But must the sacred herald, therefore, refuse to 
handle these important, yet obnoxious points ? No; for it is only by de- 
claring the whole counsel of God, that he can free his own skirts from the 
blood of souls A 

In addition to these considerations: in a city, there are serious bin- 

* Luke ir, 22 29, f Acts xx, 26 27. 



16 

drances to the cultivation of that sublime and exemplary piety, which 
are so indispensable to the sacred herald. 

If the standard of piety be low among any people, it should be propor- 
tionately high among the ambassadors of Christ, for, should it be low 
among both, then desperate truly, is the condition of that city and that 
people. But, if there be little piety among them, it may easily follow 
that there will be little among their ministering servants, since inspira- 
tion itself has said, "like people like priest." To maintain and keep 
alive in his bosom the spirit of true devotion, when all around him, the 
cause is languishing, dying, and when his intercourse, unless he break off 
all intercourse, and live a hermit, must be with persons estranged from 
God and piety; this is truly no easy task to the minister of Jesus. 

So were they at Rome, with the exception of a very few, who were, 
probably, bright and shining lights: the more conspicuous for their piety 
by being surrounded with persons of an opposite description. 

The readiness of Paul, notwithstanding the difficulties attending the 
enterprise, to preach at Rome, should serve to inspire the ministers 
of the Gospel with a commendable zeal to spread the news of the glorious 
salvation in the populous places, and central towns and cities of our land. 
Rome, the mistress of the world, Paul well knew, was an enemy to true 
and revealed religion. The seat, as she was, of idolatry; the dwelling- 
place of power for the vast globe; the abode of the arts and sciences; 
and the residence of the Caesars; and then ruled by the bloodiest monster 
that ever disgraced a throne; — this city seemed little likely to open its 
many doors for the reception of the Gospel, and the entertainment of its 
champion. And were more fidelity now observed in the annunciation of 
the doctrines and duties of the Cross of Christ, there would not be, we 
fear, that hospitality shown to the heralds of salvation here, which there 
is now. 

Long distant be the time, when the Gospel shall cease to be preached 
here. May it never come, till all the people God has in this city, shall 
be gathered to glory. Till then, let holy men of God lift up their voice 
like a trumpet; cry aloud and spare not; show God's people their sins, 
and Israel his transgression ; — till the wicked shall forsake his way, and 
the unrighteous man his thoughts, and turn to the Lord, who will have 
mercy upon him, and to^our God, who will abundantly pardon him,* To 
him be glory in the Church, "throughout all ages, even world without 
end."t — Amen. 

# Isaiah, i.t, 7. f Epb. m, 21. 

Lf,2 RflRY 0F C0 NGRESS 




002 049 641 1 



